It is well known that stress can cause health problems and sleeping difficulties. Stress also affects our memory and our performance. It tends to affect our emotional well-being, reducing our motivation, energy and enjoyment of life. As a result of the “stress hormone”, cortisol, we are more prone to angerwhen we are stressed. The task is not to eliminate stress from our lives – that is impossible – but to reduce the causes of our stress (our “stressors”) and the impact of stress on us.

When we are stressed, it can be difficult to see the wood from the trees and difficult to see a way out. We can feel hopeless. It can be stressful just thinking about setting aside time to analyse what our stressors are and putting in place an action plan to reduce them – but that is what needs to be done and even small, well-thought through, changes can make a big difference.

The Stop Seeing Red course offers you the chance to make space and set time aside to audit the particular sources of stress in your life. You will be helped to distinguish between which of your stressors are external and which are internal – your beliefs, attitudes and the demands you place on yourself – and to see what you can do to reduce your stress in the short and long term.

Conflict – particularly unresolved conflict – is a common source of stress. On the course you will learn what fuels conflict and strategies and tools for conflict resolution.

Many of us are in a vicious cycle where our stress levels are such that we find it hard to relax, increasing the impact on us of the stress in our lives. The course incorporates relaxation and mindfulness exercises to give you access to greater resilience in the face of life’s inevitable stress.